katieb94's reviews
726 reviews

Superior Spider-Man Vol. 1: Full Otto by Christos Gage

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

First Cut by J.T. Bishop

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I actually enjoyed this book. I’m reading this as part of the four book bind up but wanted to list them separately. I did enjoy this book, but the reason I’ve given it a four stars is because despite this being a great detective story- there were things that let it down.

Firstly, the two main detectives take the back burner when Jill Jacob’s turns up due to her connection with the case previously. It then became all about her as the serial killer is obsessed with her.

There is also the element of the supernatural in the fact that Jill has ‘the sight’ and has visions linking to the murders. This made it feel a bit far fetched and less believable.

I must admit, I didn’t work it out who the killer was. I thought it was someone else, it seemed like all the clues went that way and then BANG it was someone else. I should have figured when they turned up out of the blue for no reason.

I’m interested in where the series is going to go as there were definitely some unanswered questions left at the end.

I will continue with the series, I liked the characters and it’s written really well.

4/5 stars.

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False Vacuum by Phillip Carter

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

A great mix of poetry!
There were some darker themes surrounding the end of the world, love, and things like anxiety. I read some of them aloud as poetry should be read and others in my head but it was still and enjoyable reading experience.

Branch Density by Phillip Carter

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adventurous dark emotional funny reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Girlcrush by Florence Given

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I’ve given this book 3.5/4 stars because I found it very readable and did end up enjoying it- but the second half of the book is a mess!

The premise of this book is basically what happens when a woman discovers her sexuality and then loses herself in the world of social media. Earths breaks up with her boyfriend and discovers she might be a little bit gay when she sees the woman he cheated on her with and instantly obsesses over her.

A little bit of insta-love but they don’t actually end up together. If they did I’d have a completely lower rating.

I did like the inclusion of a non-binary character- Eartha’s best friend Rose, as well as the LGBTQ characters being very open with their sexuality. It was quite refreshing. I guess it’s because it’s set in 2030 (but there’s nothing really different?)

Nether the less, Eartha is a very relatable character. She is a human being who messes up and makes mistakes! She is not perfect- she is messy, suffers from mental health issues and knows when things are going wrong for her.

Sometimes queer characters are written as if they are perfect and glorious- we know from the off that she isn’t.

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the fact that before she goes viral, Eartha is an artist. After, that fact is basically mute. She doesn’t mention her art again. It’s just her queerness and her love life. I wish we’d seen more of that creative side.

I very rarely read books about queer characters and this was definitely enjoyable. I’ll definitely read more to see how they compare.

3.5/4 stars.

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Of shadows, demons, and lost brothers by Maria Mavridou

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dark emotional lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

I really liked this book, it’s a short story involving a magical forest, demons and shadows- the shadows are actually people’s souls who have passed whilst in the forest.

I didn’t think I’d like it but actually the concept was really good. The characters of James and Michael were great too, it was really easy to believe that they were brothers in how James was describing the younger one, and both were also written of their age. They didn’t feel too old or too young- perfect.

It was quite sad and shocking in places which was unexpected but this shows great storytelling!

I would love to pick up more by this author to see what they come up with next.

Content Warnings